What Food to Try in Morocco: 12 Must-Eats

Tagine — the slow-cooked stew named after its conical clay pot — comes in many forms: chicken with preserved lemon and olives, lamb with prunes and almonds, or kefta (meatball and egg). Couscous, traditionally eaten on Fridays, is fluffy steamed semolina topped with vegetables and meat.

For special occasions, pastilla is a remarkable sweet-savoury pie of spiced poultry (or seafood) in flaky pastry dusted with cinnamon and sugar, and mechoui is whole lamb slow-roasted until it falls apart.

Harira, a hearty tomato-lentil-chickpea soup, is the classic Ramadan fast-breaker and a year-round staple. On the street, look for brochettes (grilled skewers), kefta sandwiches, grilled sardines (a must in Essaouira), and snail soup (babbouche) for the adventurous.

Breakfast and snack breads are a highlight: msemen (flaky square pancakes), baghrir (spongy “thousand-hole” pancakes), and harcha (semolina griddle bread), served with honey, butter and cheese.

Save room for chebakia (sesame-and-honey flower-shaped cookies), sfenj (Moroccan doughnuts), kaab el ghazal (gazelle-horn almond pastries) and fresh seasonal fruit. Everything is accompanied by atay — sweet mint tea, poured from height, central to Moroccan hospitality.

Don’t miss fresh orange juice from the Jemaa el-Fnaa stalls, and try a spiced coffee or almond-milk drink. A cooking class is a great way to learn the dishes hands-on.